Pilot have just got off stage after the opening night of the So Are The Cougars Tour. Subiaco Oval in Perth was the location and the crowd will be spending the next few hours trying to get home in Perth's grossly inadequate public transport system.
But on to the positives.
The show started a few minutes after 8.45, just long enough to get the crowd edgy without getting them pissed off. The screen above the stage lit up with vision of a hobo in a cell full of books, reading along to the monologue of Come Upon New Times while rats and spiders crawled over his body and face. The song played over the speakers and as it drew to an end the crowd went off, they knew Pilot were about to hit the stage. They surely did not anticipate how Pilot would hit the stage.
As the opening chords of Sirens rang out the band entered the stage on a small pirate ship, wheeled on via the back of the stage. Cannons blasted from the sides of the ships as the band leapt off the boat and took up their stage positions. For the final chorus Nick climbed up the mast of the ship and stood in the crowsnest, 25 metres above the stage, leading the crowd in a singalong. "Sirens, looks like they kill without violence..."
As Nick carefully made his way back down to the stage Clint greeted the crowd.
"Hello Perth! You look beautiful. Are you all ready to go somewhere tonight? Do you all wanna travel somewhere you've never been? Yeah? Come with us. This songs called People Are Animals."
The screen above the stage shows violent images from horror movies and newsreel footage during this song. In the middle of the song Stephen performs a short, angry drum solo that is ended by Andrew picking up one of the cymbols and breaking it against the side of the ship (the cymbol is quickly replaced by a roadie). The band then kick straight into live favourite Sally Thirtysomething. At the start of the song thirty self-inflating blow up dolls are launched into the audience via the cannons and passed around like beach balls. Nick makes his first venture down the central catwalk as he sings, "Sally's on the town, but Sally's thirtysomething and she's better off at home, but Sally's taken something..."
Before they play Russian Bride Nick announces to the audience, "This song's about a sexy lady, so our cameras are gonna find some of you sexy ladies out there. If you wanna give 'em a show (Nick mimes lifting his shirt) feel free." As they play, Clint runs down the central catwalk, pointing with his guitar at hotties he sees up on peoples shoulders. Nick stands on Stephen's bass drum as the song finishes up and balances a tambourine on his head (in homage to Liam Gallagher).
"If you're with someone you love tonight, fucking come together for this next song won't you. Hold each other close, yeah?" Clint instructs the audience as they begin to play recent single Let The Lovers Come Together. As the song ends Nick tells the audience, "that's a nice song. Soppy but nice."
Next the band play Cirque. To go along with the circus-theme sounding chorus of doo-da-doos, 8 clown dancers come onstage and juggle and throw pies at each other.
During Neon there is a laser show with red, green and blue lasers chasing each other across the sky. This is followed by Can't Sit Still (which has still been played at every Pilot gig they've done), and then new song Devil's Daughter which sounded like a throwback to Pilot around the Six Inches Under Denver, and The Leed Balloon years, and which Nick said would, "probably be the first single off our next album. Enjoy."
"This next song was our first single off Bullets & Broken Glass (Part-Time Assassin). Anyone know it?" And so Nick invites a screaming girl in the front row up on stage to sing with him. She spends most of the time giggling and the few times she does sing she sounds terrible, but she and Nick seem to enjoy it. Nick then takes her camera and takes a picture of the crowd and a close up of Clint playing guitar for her before escorting her back into the crowd.
More of a laser show for Virtual Fantastic, with a red laser spelling out "Virtual, Fantastic, Sensual, Orgasmic" over and over during the choruses. The Brightest Star follows and this ends with fireworks being shot out as Clint plays an extended, bluesy outro.
Clint tells the crowd before the next song. "We're coming to the conclusion of tonight. It's time now, more than ever, to come together with love ok? This song's called Brothers & Sisters" And so the band play their epic, drunken-arm-over-your-mates' shoulders classic and Nick let's the crowd sing the choruses and just stands at the front of stage with his fist in the air.
Faultlines finishes off the main set. As it finishes the stage shakes in a simulated earthquake and chaos begins, both with the noise of guitars ringing out and with the band breaking instruments, pushing amps over and Stephen kicking his drumkit apart.
After a fairly lengthy break (to repair the set) the band reappear minus Nick and begin to play the "modern sea-shanty" Seven Seas Nick appears on a rubber dinghy, pushed out into the crowd from the camera tower. "Push me to the stage, to the stage you bastards," he laughs as the bewildered crowd struggle to get their heads around what to do. He gets to the stage a little later than planned and so has to start singing in the dinghy. Once onstage he throws the dinghy back into the crowd and it is passed around for a short while before it deflates.
The band then play Song To Fall In Love To. Multi-coloured heart-shaped confetti is shot into the crowd, each containing an uplifting, fortune cookie-like message such as, 'accomplish your dreams' or 'the world is your blank canvas' or 'love with all your heart, every day, always,' etc.
As usual, Lightyears concludes the set. Another laser show accompanies it and Clint and Murray play an extended outro on guitar and keys respectively before the band applauds the audiences in thanks and walk off.
Setlist
Come Upon New Times
Sirens
People Are Animals
Sally Thirtysomething
Wasted
Space Cadet
Dream Police
Russian Bride
Let The Lovers Come Together
Cirque
If You Want It
Amy
Neon
Can't Sit Still
Devil's Daughter (new song)
Part-Time Assassin
Virtual Fantastic
The Brightest Star
Brothers & Sisters
Faultlines
Seven Seas
Song To Fall In Love To
Lightyears
